Where to buy a large polytunnel?

[Annpan]

Me and OH had a HUGE fight* today about the wonderful, giant, 12x30 ft greenhouse that we have lying in bits around the garden..... I have been desperately trying to piece it together on my own for the past 6 months We managed to get a child free day today to put it up, and OH told me he had this image of it falling down and killing me and LO..... so it he said it has not to go up.


Anyway - I now have a huge leveled space for my green house to go on, that I won't be putting a greenhouse on, so I want/need a polytunnel instead.

Can anyone give me any pointers or recommendations?

I'd be wanting it to go up with-in the next month, to get a good early start for some of my veg.



*well, by our standards, which means we both went in a strop for a few hours

[John Headstrong]

sorry to hear that the greenhouse is to much to recontruct

I used http://www.firsttunnels.co.uk/

they came highly recommended from a friend and from users in this forum.

[ajstone]

http://www.lbs-horticulture.co.uk/main. ... olytunnels

Snowdrops are late this year, here anyway.

[Green Aura]

We've got a First Tunnels polytunnel - much smaller than the one you require. As it's already stood up to 80+mph winds this winter I can heartily recommend them!

We got the frame upgrade (35mm), anchor plates, storm braces and crop bars - we knew it'd have to stand up to this sort of wind.

[MuddyWitch]

My vote goes to First Tunnels too. Great product, brilliant Staff, well written instructions and I am in mine more than I'm in the house!!!

They also supplied me with just a length off cover to re-cover an old greenhouse frame.

MW

[Annpan]

First tunnels it is then - as their ad is also at the bottom of the page, makes it even easier

ajstone - the site that you gave the link for is dreadful, great company they may be, but the site was dire - just letting you know why I didn't consider them.


So... follow-up question...

What kind of plastic do you have covering yours? Is it worth getting the anti-fog thermal sheeting? or am I better spending that extra money on crop bars? (I do have a budget)

I have decided against timber base rails as the same money can double the size of the tunnel I can afford.

I won't need extra strength or ground anchors thankfully, it never gets all that windy here.

Anyone fancy having a look through their gardening mags and see if they can find me a money off code i am sure I have seen one for first tunnels before.

[Odsox]

Ann, just a thought ... I assume OH is concerned with the glass in the greenhouse ? If so, and you have the frame, why not glaze it with plastic sheets ... very light and safe.
Twin or triple walled polycarbonate sheets would probably be cheaper than a polytunnel anyway.
A polytunnel is a wonderful thing to have, but it's not a substitute greenhouse.
I am lucky enough to have both but if I had to choose between a large greenhouse or a polytunnel, I would choose the greenhouse every time.

[Shirley]

Why is that Tony? My reason for asking is that we also require either a greenhouse or a poly - my OH says that a poly is much better (ok it is much BIGGER) but I'm not entirely sure of his reasons for thinking that.

[Odsox]

Why is that Tony? My reason for asking is that we also require either a greenhouse or a poly - my OH says that a poly is much better (ok it is much BIGGER) but I'm not entirely sure of his reasons for thinking that.

It all depends what you want to grow Shirley.
Greenhouses are wonderful for growing things like tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, aubergines etc. etc.
Polytunnels are wonderful for growing stuff you normally grow outside but would benefit from shelter ... it IS just a big walk-in cloche after all.
In my experience polytunnels have to be open for ventilation as much as possible as the condensation builds up very quickly and causes problems by making the atmosphere damp and also dripping on foliage.
That means the internal temperature is not that much more than the outside temperature, but a greenhouse warms up quicker when the sun shines and you can heat a greenhouse ... or partition a small part and heat that for extra early crops.

At the moment growing in my polytunnel are a dozen cauliflowers, a row of broad beans, a row of peas, the remains of last years celery, a dozen or so garlic (left over from the outdoor planting for an early crop), 2 dozen winter lettuces and a load of spring onions.

At the moment in my greenhouse I have seeds germinating and young plants growing on. Soon I will be sowing some climbing French beans that should start cropping in May and a bit later it will be full of tomatoes, melons and a cucumber.

The seeds and young plants wouldn't do very well in the polytunnel as it's too cold and damp and tomatoes do far better in the greenhouse as they prefer higher temperatures and don't like being dripped on.
I grow 100% of all the veg we eat and I don't think I could do that without both a polytunnel AND a greenhouse (well I have 3 actually), but if I could only have one or the other, I would without a doubt choose the greenhouse.
But, in the end it's up to you to choose what you want to grow and how you want to grow it but I hope my ramblings have been of some help

[Shirley]

Thank you very much! Very useful information. Perhaps a greenhouse would be best for us -I can imagine the cats will make a bit of a mess of a polytunnel too. Our neighbours (owner of the majority of the cats) have just put one up so I'll see how their one fares first - they've not got the plastic on yet though as they are waiting for a warm and wind free day!

[Annpan]

Ann, just a thought ... I assume OH is concerned with the glass in the greenhouse ? If so, and you have the frame, why not glaze it with plastic sheets ... very light and safe.
Twin or triple walled polycarbonate sheets would probably be cheaper than a polytunnel anyway.
A polytunnel is a wonderful thing to have, but it's not a substitute greenhouse.
I am lucky enough to have both but if I had to choose between a large greenhouse or a polytunnel, I would choose the greenhouse every time.

The greenhouse frame that we have is like this as you can see from the pictures it is al about the angles and we realised it had to go on a very level base, which was a nightmare, but I got one trench dug leveled and filled with rubble - I am really reluctant to use concrete and I planned on using slabs for the green house to sit on, We got the sides of the frame up but the roof was proving more difficult and .... as you can see from the picture, the wooden structure it-self is fairly flimsy, the glass in it actually strengthens it into a solid structure, as well as giving the structure some real weight. The wood is not in ideal condition (no where near like new) and it would need a good deal of work and cross-bracing to make it stand alone as a solid structure - we also had resigned to the thought that we might patch it up for the next few years, but at some point it would need renewed.

OH has been putting off helping me with the roof for some time - I personally still think that the frame could be built up and strengthened but OH has now put his foot down (which is fair enough, just wished he had 6 months ago )

I don't think the greenhouse would be so substantial with lightweight plastic in it, and I also consideredusing the frame as a polytunnel frame, but I can't see it being strong enough.




BTW - Anyone who wants it is welcome to it, and all the glass and fixings. Otherwise, I will perhaps make what I can into a much smaller structure .... and burn the rest Can't be leaving the 4'x2' sheets of glass around much longer either

I really didn't think there was that much of a difference between poly-tunnels and greenhouses (perhaps the 'anti-fog, themal' plastic is worth that bit extra?) I do want to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines but I also want a realistic chance of growing year long veg too/ extending the season.

[ajstone]

ajstone - the site that you gave the link for is dreadful, great company they may be, but the site was dire - just letting you know why I didn't consider them.

I have to agree the website is dreadful but our local store "Wisbech" is great they have a massive product range but seem to prefer issuing a large catalog.

Saw the first Snowdrops yesterday

[Shirley]

Hedgewizard - where art thou? He's just written a book all about polytunnels. http://hedgewizardsdiary.blogspot.com/

[Annpan]

Bumping this up again, just to ask again....

What kind of plastic? first tunnels have a regular plastic and a thermal, anti-fog plastic..... any recommendations?

[red]

another difference between greenhouses and PTs is that greenhouses tend to last longer.. in my understanding you are into replacing the plastic every so many years on a PT.
if you dont want to use concrete, what about limecrete?